Govt insulting people by inking them: Cong

Congress today accused the government of "branding" people through its "fascist act" of inking those exchanging demonetised currency notes even as it charged Prime Minister Narendra Modi with "disrespecting" Parliament by not hearing out concerns raised by members on demonetisation.
Party spokesperson Anand Sharma said the Modi government was "insulting and harassing" crores of Indians by subjecting them to stand in long queues to withdraw money and demanded apology from the Prime Minister and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
"The decision to put indelible ink on fingers of account holders is a senseless, Fascist and Nazist act of branding people. It is shameful that they have done so with foreign tourists. Instead of sermonising, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Finance minister should hang their heads in shame and apologise to the people," he told PTI.

He said the Prime Minister saying that he will not answer the concerns raised by opposition members in Parliament shows how he is "disrespecting" Parliament.
"The PM's stand in not being present in Parliament smacks of arrogance and disrespect for the institution of Parliament. Narendra Modi does not have the courage to face the truth and lacks the grace to apologise to the people for the suffering inflicted on crores of Indians," he said.
The Congress leader said India's image globally has been besmirched with foreign missions issuing advisories to their citizens against travelling to India.

Sharma also accused the Prime Minister of indulging in "selective leaks" from September onwards and said "it is government's failure to maintain secrecy and selectively leak the proposed step to individuals and vested interests and groups identified with BJP."

"It is a big scam which demands an investigation. The opposition demand of JPC is fully justified and we are determined to press for it," he said.
Sharma took strong objection to Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu's remarks targeting Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad. Azad had equated the Uri terror attack and deaths in queues at banks in terms of deaths. Sharma said Naidu's statement "mischievously distorts the comments made by the Leader of Opposition".
He said, "In their desperation, Naidu and the government are seeking to communalise the comments also by raising the bogie of nationalism, which definitely is not their exclusive domain."

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With the reduction in cash withdrawal limit from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,000, Sharma said the government is "clueless" about what it is doing and their repeated U-turns and "knee-jerk" reactions have created insecurity among the people about the safety of their money kept in banks.
Sharma accused the Prime Minister and the government of creating an "upheaval" in the Indian economy and financial anarchy.
He said Congress has raised a fundamental question which neither Prime Minister Modi or Jaitley have reacted to.
He said the money in bank accounts is that of the citizens which is accounted for and taxes for which have been paid.

"The Prime Minister or Finance Minister have no legal authority to prevent people from accessing their own accounts or to impose any limit.
"I reject completely the argument that the withdrawal limits have been further reduced to prevent any further misuse. The fact is that government has been ill-prepared and went in for a half-baked measure of demonetisation without having printed stocks of currency notes of Rs 100 and Rs 500," he said.
Sharma said that is the reason why RBI has put back in circulation the soiled Rs 100 notes returned by banks to it.
The Congress leader said the picture in rural areas across the country is alarming as thousands of bank branches in rural areas have not received any cash from November 10.